Here, based on nearly 1,400 ballots of your votes for your favorite DC and Marvel comic book characters of all-time, is the list of characters revealed so far (click on the character to go to the piece on that section of the list)!

Welcome to the Comics Should Be Good Top 100 DC and Marvel Characters poll!

I did one of these polls back in 2007, and I think every four years is a goodly amount of time to do these things.

It’s time to vote for your top ten all-time favorite DC and Marvel comic book characters.

Here’s the deal. You folks all vote in the comments section here up until 11:59 Pacific time, August 24th. I’ll tabulate all the votes and I’ll begin a countdown of the winners starting September 1st (it’ll be one of September’s daily features).

Sound good?

Okay, here are the guidelines!

1. Vote in the comments section below, making sure to include that classic word “ACBC” somewhere in your comment so your vote will be marked invisible.

2. You’re going to be voting for twenty people in total here. Your ten favorite DC characters AND your ten favorite Marvel characters (either living or dead characters and either heroes or villains or supporting characters). Vote for TEN each – less than ten DC characters and ten Marvel characters and I don’t count your ballot.

3. Rank your ten favorite DC and Marvel characters from #1 (your most favorite) to #10 (your 10th most favorite). I’d prefer it if you actually numbered your entry, #1-10. It’s easier for me to count. On that note, please also avoid listing them like this “1) 2) 3) 4),” because 8 with a ) after it transforms into a smiley face in the comments section (this one 8) ). Just plain ol’ “1. 2. 3.” works best.

4. Your top choice will be given 10 points, your second choice 9, etc.

5. Make sure to include ACBC in your ballot.

6. Any character currently owned/licensed by DC or Marvel is eligible. So the Wildstorm characters, the Watchmen and V for Vendetta characters, Vertigo characters, Crossgen characters and Doc Savage are cool; Conan the Barbarian, Snake-Eyes, Rom and Optimus Prime are not. And, for now, let’s not count the Alan Moore Marvelman characters.

7. One of the more controversial aspects of the last vote was how to handle alternate universe versions of characters. I’ve decided to go with “One name, one character” So Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man would be one character, not two separate characters. Dark Knight Returns Batman and Batman would be one character, not two separate characters. You can include which version you’re specifically voting for, and I might include that in the end (you know, like, “Spider-Man – XXX points (XX of those points for Ultimate Spider-Man”). Similarly, Legion of Super-Heroes characters will all be lumped into one (so a vote for 3Boot Cosmic Boy would just be a vote for Cosmic Boy). The only difference would be if they do not share the same name. For instance, the NEW Ultimate Spider-Man would count as a separate character as he is no longer Peter Parker.

8. Identify which character you mean when you vote for a legacy character. In other words, don’t just write Green Lantern or Flash, specify which one you mean (Hal Jordan, Jay Garrick, etc.)

9. Make sure to include ACBC in your ballot.

10. The following groups count as one character (I’ll add more as it becomes appropriate):

11. The following groups do not count as one character (I’ll add more as it becomes appropriate):

X-Statix
Power Company
Thunderbolts
GLA/GLX/GLI
Young Avengers

12. For characters with multiple identities, vote for whichever one you like best, but I’ll be combining the votes in the end (so a vote for Yellowjacket (Hank) is the same as a vote for Giant-Man (Hank)).

13. I’ll make various other decisions in the interest of fairness.

If you have questions and or requests for clarification, feel free to ask them in the comments section below.

Remember, please include the following word: ACBC – on your ballot. It will make it so your ballot appears invisible to other readers, so only I can read it (and count your vote secretly).